20 Sep 2012

Nelson Maori praised for hosting national speech contest

7:08 pm on 20 September 2012

Nelson's Maori community is being praised for hosting hundreds of secondary school students from across Aotearoa who have been in the rohe (region) for the last three days for a speaking contest.

The Nga Manu Korero speech competition encourages the development and confidence of Maori students in spoken English and te reo.

The chair of this year's organising committee, Wayne Hippolite, says local whanau were unsure at first whether they had enough resources to cater and accommodate their manuhiri (visitors).

But he says all of the hard work has paid off and the last three days have been outstanding.

It's been 22 years since Nelson hosted the last Nga Manu Korero competition.

Mr Hippolite says the main speech topics included state assets, politics and teenage issues.

He says feedback from the judges has been positive especially in the junior categories.